The Book of Unwritten Tales: The Critter Chronicles

The Book of Unwritten Tales: The Critter Chronicles is an expansion to the point-and-click adventure title The Book of Unwritten Tales. In The Critter Chronicles you take charge of Nate and Critter once more as you follow a fairly simple plot to rescue Critter’s stranded species. In typical fashion, The Critter Chronicles maintains the same humor and witty writing of the first game and you’ll be greeted by familiar foes such as Munkus and Ma’Zaz, both of whom you have jilted and once more are out for Nate’s head quite literally. From the opening sequence to the surprisingly cinematic end scene The Critter Chronicles will keep you glued to your computer, bending your brain around a few devilishly convoluted puzzles. The game is still entirely too easy for veteran adventure gamers and the game is far too short, but those who are new to the genre will find the difficulty and time required to complete the game properly balanced. Above average voice acting and some really beautiful environments to explore will keep anyone who decides to give The Critter Chronicles their time clicking from start to finish.

Pros:Hilarious dialogue Detailed artwork Fantatsic voice acting

Cons:Story is too short Most puzzles are too easy Some pixel hunting

Score: 8/10

Graphics:The same engine that churned out The Book of Unwritten Tales reprises its role in The Critter Chronicles. The game isn't ugly per-se but it really isn't all that spectacular either. The
backdrops of the set pieces are wonderfully rendered with tons of little
details for the eye to feast on.The
world of Aventasia is still fully realized and the graphics compliment the game
perfectly.The universe the game takes
place in has had a lot of thought put into it and it comes complete with its
own lore that would be a joy to see expanded in further installations of the
series.This is not the flat kind of
world slapped together just to make a video game; this is a world with its own
history and populations and the foresight to create this kind of world makes
the game feel authentic even though it’s pure fantasy.The Mage Tower is once again explored and you’ll
be treated to floating plants, a main hall that is one giant Escher illusion that
must be navigated, and a room full of magical paintings that must be
manipulated in order to solve a puzzle.Everywhere you go the environments are unique and well represented. It’s a shame that there aren't very many
places to actually search. You’re tantalized
by returning to places you explored and relished in The Book of Unwritten Tales, but as this is a prequel the story doesn't go down those familiar roads.
The only new area that is exploited, and maybe too much so only because
it’s so bland, is the Northlands.You
can only look at the ice sheet so much before it becomes lackluster. Even though you don’t have many places to go that are new, the environments opened to you are wonderfully crafted. The interior of the Mary, Nate’s stolen airship, is delicious to look at. The captain’s quarters is full of little details that catch the eye. Even the big details such as Mary, the ships figurehead who does talk and has some wonderfully written lines, is fully complimented with a shell necklace and windswept carved hair. Each piece of the backdrop is littered with associated junk scattered around and it’s all done so well that each scene looks as natural as it can in a game where furry aliens take refuge in a space craft hidden in a glacier or a zoologist who becomes the Yeti he’s searching for once the head piece of his costume is adorned. The game is wacky and the graphics really show it. If you played The Book of Unwritten Tales then you’ll be instantly familiar with the look of the game. The character models are still stiffer than marionettes, but at least the lip syncing is handled better. When a character is speaking the mouth moves in a relatively natural way as opposed to the first game’s puppet-mouth syndrome. This game basically takes the graphics from The Book of Unwritten Tales and fixes most of the issues. The game is still bright, colorful and full of fantasy and the overall appearance in both environmental and character models are kicked up a notch. This is obviously a game that has the advantage of a little more funding and a little more time to put together. The results are fantastic, though not by very much. Even though the game is well drawn and the character models are passable the game overall still maintains that budget feeling. The only thing that would propel the graphics out of the mediocre and into the sublime would be a fully 3D world with high resolution textures. This is asking a lot for an adventure title, a video game space that isn’t typically well funded anymore, but as it stands The Critter Chronicles is still pretty and the graphics hold up the story well enough. While the graphics may be dated the sound of the game, especially the suburb voice acting, makes this game a pleasure to play.

Sound:The Book of Unwritten
Tales suffered from some spotty voice acting.Some lines were read with the wrong
inflection, and Nate especially was more annoying than playful in his banter.Thankfully Nate’s voice acting has received a
major boost and this is a relief since you’ll be playing his character the most
as you push through the story. In the
first game I found Nate to be grating with poorly delivered lines that were
read with some strange inflections and emotions that didn't really fit the
mood. The Creature Chronicles must have had a better, or more confident,
voice director as the quality of the acting overall is such a joy to listen
to.Munkus and Ma’Zaz are other notable
characters who have some of the best dialogue in any game I’ve played.Ma’Zaz, a female orc bounty hunter with the
taste of Nate’s blood in her mouth, is read with such guttural fervor you can
feel the rage in every spoken line.Munkus is read with such sniveling malice that you can sense the evil
genius lurking within his green, tentacled skin.Voice acting this good is usually found in
big budget titles and it’s refreshing to hear such superb acting in a
relatively small title. The dialogue of the game would be nothing if it wasn't
written and recorded well and again The
Critter Chronicles follows in its precursor’s footsteps with truly funny dialogue.The script is well written and pays homage to
a slew of adventure games that those who have devoted a lot of time to the
genre will immediately notice.At one
point Nate is trapped in the Yeti cave and attempts to use his Jedi powers to
telepathically yank a light saber from the ice.If you look at the same object with Critter he simply makes the iconic
swooshing noise.It’s subtle but
appreciated and moments like this crop up in dialogue throughout the game.It’s thrilling to listen to a script read
with such passion and believability and it sets a new standard for the
adventure genre.The smartest, wittiest
writing in the world would fall flat if it wasn't read by the right actors and
it’s great that The Critter Chronicles
excels in this front. The music of the game is also a joy to listen to and is full
of instrumental swell that compliments the action on the screen.The music is beautifully crafted and sets the
tone of the environment you’re exploring.Returning to the series is the satisfying musical ditty that plays when
you successfully solve a puzzle.It’s
quick and some may argue pointless to include, but I personally found it gratifying
to hear that triumphant tone play.It gives
a sense of accomplishment to solving a puzzle; other adventure games simply
continue the story forward with little reward save for a pat on the back, if
that at all.It’s almost like a level up
tone in an RPG and the feeling is fantastic.

Gameplay:The game itself continues to maintain the classing
point-and-click recipe.You take control
of the main character, clicking around various environments to move the
character, pick up an interactive object, or manipulate the set in some way to
solve a puzzle.If you’ve played the
classics such as Day of the Tentacle
or Sam and Max you’ll know how this
game plays even before you start.It
doesn’t stray outside of its genre confines but if it isn’t broken there’s no
point in trying to fix it.Instead, the
developers have decided to make some puzzles more interactive as opposed to
simply clicking objects to combine them or use them in the world in some way. The Book of Unwritten
Tales started this trend in the series and it’s nice to have it
return. For example Nate is tasked with
painting some food and drink for a portrait of the Arch Mage in order to gain
some useful information. After the
convoluted quest to obtain the canvas, Nate is presented with an easel on which
is sketched the still life that was requested.
The player must fill in the paint of picture using the mouse. It’s great fun to interact with puzzles like
this over sliders, memory games, or the other obscure contraptions most
adventure games throw at you. It really
is a new addition to the genre that I haven’t encountered in any other
adventure series and I hope it continues to grow within this franchise and
other adventure titles. There is a difficulty option at the beginning of the game
that adds more steps to complete some puzzles and generally gives the player
less information to make the game more challenging.The first title was a tad easy and The Critter Chronicles will be over
relatively shortly if you’re observant and have a knack for video game
logic.Some puzzles are needlessly
complicated in difficult mode especially the pentagram maze puzzle.It was the only time I had to use a walkthrough
to figure it out as the environment didn’t really reveal any clues on how to
solve it.Logically I knew what to do
but the mess of buttons and rotating rings could only be experimented with for
so long before frustration set it.This
is a marked improvement to the genre as a whole as most puzzle games such as Myst were so obscure and complicated
that the puzzles became a nightmare instead of a good mental challenge.The
Critter Chronicles is still relatively easy for hardcore adventurers, but
those who only visit the genre occasionally will find the game a real delight
to play.

Final Thoughts:The Critter Chronicles
is really a wonderful game to experience.The smart dialogue is expertly delivered by the actors.This is one of the few games that will make
you more than smile; you’ll actually laugh out loud at some of the lines and
situations.While The Book of Unwritten Tales was funny, The Critter Chronicles has an even more polished and tightly honed
script that is expertly delivered. The puzzles are still a bit easy especially since most
object combinations are still highlighted via text though the game makes it
slightly more difficult to discern what is the correct combination and at what
time by tossing some red herrings into the fray.Just because you can combine the flute and
the bellows doesn't mean it’s necessarily the right thing to do.It makes the game that much more challenging
but overall the game is still a bit easy.Oddly, a journal is still missing so you must exercise good memory
skills to remember what the game expects you to do next.Playing as Critter is also an exercise in
patience as it’s difficult to tell what he’s expressing as he only speaks in his
strange language and his pantomimes aren't necessarily easy to understand. Even with some minor faults The Critter Chronicles is a pleasure to play. The excellent script paired with the perfect performance
and pinpoint accurate comedic delivery makes this one of the best stories in
video gaming. The game pokes fun at
itself and the genre in general, but those moments you should experience on
your own. I don’t want to ruin too much
of the game but it’s safe to say you’ll find a few hours of fun as you navigate
the fantasy landscape of Aventasia. You’ll
come to find Critter and Nate and their growing friendship endearing and by the
end of the game you’ll be heartbroken as they both say goodbye. You know logically they’ll be together again
to give the first game continuity but it’s presently so tenderly that it’s
really one of the better game endings out there. From the first line to the last you’ll be
engrossed in The Book of Unwritten Tales:
The Critter Chronicles and this is a game that no computer adventure aficionado
should pass up.